3.

Charley woke up with a jerk, wondering what had disturbed his sleep. When nothing hit his conscious he shut his eyes again. He needed to sleep, he was exhausted and this was one of the rare nights he had actually fallen asleep the minute his head had touched the pillow. His phone vibrated. He blinked and sat up on his bed. Yawning, he took a look at his phone. It was his GM, the General Manager of his Hotel, The Marquis. A call so late at night meant only one thing; there was a problem at the hotel. Exhaling, he rubbed his face and picked up the call. Five minutes into the call and Charley had understood exactly what had happened at The Marquis. He heard his manager out and told him he would get there as soon as possible. He changed quickly. He needed to get to The Marquis fast and there was only one person who could get him there in super speed. He left his room and walked across the hallway and knocked on his brother’s door. When there was no response, he banged hard on the door. He didn’t have a lot of time so he called him from his cell phone. His brother answered after several rings. “Rishi,” Charley spoke into the phone in an urgent tone, “open the door, I’ve been knocking since ages.” “I need to go to The Marquis right now. There’s a problem,” Charley told his brother as soon as the door opened. “Now?” Rishi asked, yawning loudly. “What has happened?” “One of the guests valet-parked their Audi at The Marquis and now it has gone missing. The guest is very disturbed and has called the cops. I need to get there as soon as possible.” Rishi rubbed his eyes. “I can’t believe you woke me up for this. Why do you need to be there? Why can’t the GM handle it?” “Because the car belongs to a politician’s son who also happens to be grandfather’s friend.” Charley took the name of the politician. “Bloody hell!” Rishi slammed his palm on his forehead. “Exactly,” Charley sighed. “Obviously, the son is cashing in on the friendship between his father and our grandfather and demanding to talk to me directly. He’s creating quite a stir and is refusing to deal with the GM. Besides, he’s a regular guest at the hotel and his company rents rooms round the year at The Marquis. He is threatening to stop his business with us and has called the media already. I need to get down there and talk to him myself before this becomes a publicity nightmare.”“Fuck!” Rishi made a face. “Let me get dressed. I’ll meet you down in five.” “Oh and take your bike, Rishi. We need to get there quickly,” Charley said, walking out of his brother’s room. He called the GM again to get the latest update from him. Bikes were Rishi’s pet passion. He raced bikes along with some biker friends of his frequently. It was crazy and he and his parents had been trying to warn Rishi off this for so long. Then again, being reckless as he was, he didn’t pay any heed to them. But tonight, he needed Rishi and his bike. It was the fastest way to reach across to The Marquis, which was at the other end of Mumbai in Marine Drive. If he took his car, even at this late hour, it would take him at least forty- five minutes to reach there. On Rishi’s bike, however, they would be there in no time at all. Just as they reached their garage, they heard a car pull in. Charley watched his younger sister, Rhea park her car. Shauna, Rhea’s twin, and she both studied in London until Rhea suddenly dropped out of her college. She had returned home three days ago without any prior intimation to them. Worried about her, his parents had tried to talk to her, but she had refused to speak about why she had come back so unexpectedly, requesting them all to leave her alone. Something was going on with her but she rejected all their efforts to talk to her about it. Charley had even tried speaking to his other younger sister many times but Shauna too remained tightlipped. Rhea got out of her car and strode to the front door, ignoring them both. His normally chirpy and bubbly sister had changed and Charley had no clue why. Rishi exchanged a frustrated look with him before he asked, “Rhea, where are you coming from?” Rhea turned to face them, her arms crossed in front of her, a defiant expression on her face. “Out,” she replied. “I can see that, Rhea, but where and who were you with?” Rishi questioned. “I was out with friends, Rishi. I’m not a child. I’m an adult. Why don’t you treat me like one?” “I will, once you behave like one.” Charley put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Rishi turned to him and Charley shook his head. He was concerned about their sister too. But right now they needed to get to his hotel. Rishi gave an aggravated sigh but stayed silent. Sameer’s cell phone rang again. “Yeah, I’m coming. Twenty minutes.” He disconnected the call and ran his hands through his hair angrily. “Rishi, we need to be there now. The media is all over the incident.” “What’s happening?” Rhea asked, as Rishi revved up the engine of his bike. “There’s been a car theft at The Marquis. We are just headed there,” Charley told her. “The Marquis?” Her eyes widened. “I was just there. When did this happen?” “Less than an hour back.” “My God, I left about the same time, I think.” “Anyway, we need to be at The Marquis right this instant. Let’s talk later,” Charley said, strapping his helmet on and getting on the bike behind Rishi. Sure enough, Charley and Rishi had reached quickly only to find that the entire incident had become a huge uproar, with his hotel The Marquis caught in the center of the storm. Chaos reigned all around him. The cops were everywhere, questioning the staff and the guests. And a horde of reporters had descended seeking a story. Their cameras flashed, much to his annoyance, as they interviewed the car owner whose car was stolen and the irrational man was basking in all the attention. After speaking to the hotel staff and going through all the CCTV camera footage, Charley had been able to piece together what exactly had happened. A big party was being hosted in the hotel and with the valet service inundated with work, several guests had been waiting for the valets to bring their cars around. In all that chaos a young man had casually exited the hotel talking on his cell phone. He had coolly walked up to the valet who had just brought in an Audi to the porch. The young man had confidently tipped the valet and driven off with the car. The valet had not checked for the car tag and simply opened the door to the man and accepted his tip. The actual owner of the car, Charley could see in the video, had been busy chatting on his cell phone and hadn’t even noticed that his car had been brought around and that someone had driven away with it. It was as simple as that. The thief was dressed smartly. He looked like he was a hotel guest and no one had questioned him when he took the car from the valet. It was only after several minutes had passed that the actual owner lost patience and had started to create a ruckus with the valet for the delay in getting his car, that they realized that something was amiss. The car owner had threatened to sue The Marquis for negligence, which entailed Charley waking up his father in the middle of the night seeking his legal counsel. His father, Jai Sehgal, ran the legal department of the Sehgal group and was a renowned lawyer in his own right. He confirmed what Charley already knew, the owners could seek damages but it would become messy because hotels always disclaimed liability for the cars they parked in their premises. As a result, in order to avoid it getting ugly, Charley would have to convince the owners to not sue. But right now, tempers were flying high everywhere. He spoke to the politician’s son, a curt and bad-tempered man, politely, so as not to aggravate him and convinced him to go home and let them come up with a solution. He requested him to give the authorities a chance to look into the matter. One silver lining was that he was happy how his staff at the hotel had stepped up and taken care of the situation. They had efficiently handled any questions posed by their guests, the media were dealt with and the cops were assisted professionally. The cops having finished questioning the staff, were waiting for hotel security to go through more CCTV camera footage to give them a better idea of how and when the thief had entered the hotel. A chain wide memo was also sent to all the Sehgal hotels to beef up their security. Now, two hours later, the hotel was quiet and it was business as usual. Charley stood in his hotel lobby and observed the routine activity in the hotel. He scraped a hand down his jaw. He was tired, sleep deprived and angry that such an incident had occurred in his hotel. His brother came up to him, “I hope this doesn’t become a commercial nightmare for us. It has been made into a circus.” Rishi handed his cell phone to Sameer. It was opened onto a popular social media site and sure enough Charley could see the car owner’s interview posted there with pictures of The Marquis in the background. Rishi also showed him several other sites that had similar posts. Charley took a deep angry breath. “Fuck!” he swore out loud. “I hate the obsession people have with social media. It’s just so unnecessary and blows everything out of proportion. Anyway, the crisis is averted for the night, so I think we can head home now.” “I have a better idea. Let’s go for a fast spin on my bike and this time you drive.” “You’re joking, right?” Charley commented and then narrowed his eyes. “You’re serious?” he asked, when Rishi continued to grin at him, his brows raised. “Come on, big brother, I know you’ve been in a bloody hellish mood for the last few days and now this incident seems to have ticked you off even more. Why don’t you let loose for once?” Rishi was right. The theft at his hotel had him all worked up and the media backlash that could temporarily hamper the hotel’s image was annoying him immensely. But more than that what was exasperating was that ever since he had met Eliza again, he hadn’t been able to get her off his mind. He thought of her all the time, at work, at the gym, at home. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her and what had happened between them. He had been sleeping badly as well. Probably living a bit recklessly and behaving a little wild like Rishi maybe good for him. Perhaps it would help get his mind off his problems and maybe he’d even be able to stop thinking about this one beautiful hazel-eyed woman who had taken over all his thoughts ever since she had reappeared in his life. “OK,” Charley agreed, “let’s do this.” He gave his brother a broad smile. Rishi’s bike was a beauty and she was fast as well. Charley lifted the front cover of his helmet to let the wind on his face. Due to the speed conversation was impossible, so he let himself enjoy the fast ride and the cool breeze. This time of the night, the city roads were practically empty and he could easily speed on the super-fast bike without any danger. The clean crisp breeze wafting off the sea felt good and he let go. Rishi had been right; he needed this outlet. But try as he might, he couldn’t stop thinking of Eliza. Since the night he had met her at the restaurant, she had infiltrated his thoughts. His mind had been in an endless turmoil ever since. He had chased her all those months ago because he had wanted her, badly. She had imprinted herself on his mind so much so that day in and day out he’d been only thinking about her. That fateful night, their one night together, Eliza had stirred something intense in him. He had run scared of all the feelings she had aroused in him. And hence, even though she’d asked him to be there with her in the morning, he had deserted her. And now after meeting her again, the memory of that night kept returning in full force and his heart was throwing dozens of questions at him. Questions that had always been there, which he had chosen to ignore until now. Questions that made him feel guilty, that he had blocked, but were now consuming him. And seeing her again, they kept playing in his mind on repeat mode. Should he have at least contacted her later and told her that they didn’t have a future together? Should he have explained to her that he was incapable of being in a committed relationship? If he had then perhaps he would have had some closure and he wouldn’t be debating his actions now like he was and feeling guilty about it. But no matter how much he thought about that night, in the end, he always came to the same conclusion that though it must have hurt her, leaving had been the right thing for him. Had he stayed, he would have jumped straight into a hot, heady, steamy affair with her. And he knew it would have muddled his mind and he had to admit, his heart too, which was something that he definitely did not want. He knew firsthand what it felt like when he had handed his heart on a platter to a woman; only to have it crushed. His experience with Natasha had made him immune to having a steady relationship with any woman again, not even Eliza. He had protected himself that night, but what about her? How had she felt when she had woken up to an empty bed in the morning? Had she been hurt, offended maybe or had she brushed off the encounter with him in her usual confident way? Of course, she must have been a bit hurt and livid too. Which woman, wouldn’t be? He had walked away from their night together and never contacted her again. But then Sheena had confirmed that Eliza was fine. Hadn’t she? Charley recollected the evening he had met Sheena, a week after his night with Eliza. Sheena had met him at home for a family dinner and when he had bent forward to kiss her cheek, she had punched him hard on his shoulder and whispered to him, “You’re a complete jerk and I hate you for what you did.” He had stepped back to look at her, confused at first and then seeing the anger in her eyes, he had immediately understood what she was referring to. For a second his heart had melted and he had asked, “How is she?” To which Sheena had given him an angry look and said, “Of course, she is fine. What did you think? That she’d be crying over an *** like you.” And she had stormed off. So Eliza obviously survived it, albeit hating him in the process. He had left her because for the first time in years a woman was able to break through the defenses around his heart. Even when he had been pursuing her, he had known that Eliza was special. She made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a long time, feelings, he really didn’t want to feel. Charley shook his head. He had to stop this line of thinking. It wouldn’t get him anywhere. He was still unwilling to give his heart to any woman. So really these thoughts were useless. He revved the accelerator of the bike up to a higher speed. The bike flew, scattering his thoughts in the wind. There was something about speeding on a lean mean powerful bike that made you feel free. Charley felt like he was flying. He had not done this in such a long time and it felt great. The thrill was indefinable. They were zipping across the Queen’s Necklace, one of the best stretches of road in Mumbai. Most of the skyscrapers of Mumbai were located on this stretch. Some of the best hotels in the city were located on one side of the road and the other side was lined by the Arabian Sea. At this speed all the sites just whizzed past in a blur. After three wild, lightning fast turns on the drive Charley finally slowed down. Lifting up his helmet flap, he turned to Rishi, “That was thrilling.” “I know,” Rishi concurred with a slight grin. They crossed The Marquis and Rishi asked, “Do you think Rhea would have told us where she was if she hadn’t realized there was a problem at The Marquis?” “Not voluntarily, no. Though I’m quite sure if we checked our social media accounts we would have known sooner or later. Either she would have posted an update or her friends would have tagged her in theirs.” “Yeah. Why is it so hard for her to give us a straight answer when we ask her anything?” Rishi paused for a second and then continued. “I cannot still digest the fact that she quit college without telling us or even talking to us.” They were all worried about her. Something was going on with her and he had to find out what. The twins were known to rebel all the time but this closed, unhappy and angry behavior was not like Rhea at all. She was usually happy-go-lucky, vivacious and fun. He had to get her to confide in him soon. Knowing that they wouldn’t get any answers unless their sister confided in them herself.Rishi changed the subject, “What about that property next to The Marquis? I thought you wanted to extend The Marquis onto it.” Charley stopped the bike in front of the ancient villa that was lying nondescript and abandoned next to his hotel. It was prime real estate and it had belonged to his grandmother’s family for ages. On her death, it had passed on to his grandfather and Charley was planning to refurbish it and extend a new wing of The Marquis on it, since a while now. Charley and Rishi both got off the bike and gazed at the villa. It was not too big, about ten thousand square feet, but sufficient to add a new wing to one of his most prestigious and sought after hotels. He wanted to add a spa wing to The Marquis. His spa would be one of the best city spas in the country, he would make sure of that. A tranquil oasis in the midst of a crazy, busy, city. This new addition to the Marquis would catapult it from a city hotel to a city resort. He really had to discuss this with the board soon. Kabier would love what he had in mind and Rishi already knew his plans and was excited to get the ball rolling. So all that was left was to get a nod from their grandfather and they could get started. “I’m bringing this up in the board meeting on Monday. Let’s see what the others have to say to this new idea,” Charley said as they both climbed back on the bike again. He rode the bike at a low speed, all the while talking to Rishi. “I just hope...What the hell?” Charley yelled.He swerved his bike on to the side as a huge black SUV drove recklessly past him. “Looks like more people having fun tonight, other than you and me,” Rishi commented as his gaze followed the unruly SUV. “Fun...more like mad people with a death wish,” Charley said. He stopped the bike to look at the black Porsche Cayenne SUV take a fast U turn and speed down on the opposite side of the road, the music from its speakers audible and loud even from where they were standing. “Whoa. Did you see the plates on the Cayenne?” Rishi asked. “No. Why?” “Isn’t Kabier in London?” “Uh huh.” Charley replied. “If Kabier is in London then who in the world is driving his car at four in the morning unless...” “Unless, that’s Keya,” Charley completed. “Come on,” Charley dropped down his helmet flap and revved the bike, “let’s go say Hi!”

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